You're often asked where you want your receipt, and the correct response is your hand. When the cashier sticks it in the bag, you're probably going to forget it's there and toss it out with the bag. Here are a few tips to help you avoid losing receipts—and your ability to return things along with them.

Put the Receipt In Your Wallet

Return windows are generally pretty short. If you're lucky, you get 30 days. Usually, you get 14 or 15. If there's any chance you might need to return the item you bought, don't take the receipt in the bag. Take it directly from the cashier, fold it up, and stick it in your wallet. Not only will this keep it safe in the event of a problem, but if you go to return the item you'll already know you have it with you.

Scan the Receipt With Your Phone

Your phone's camera isn't just leisure photos—it's fully capable of scanning a receipt. If you're worried about losing that important slip of paper, just snap a picture so you have a backup copy. If you've got a smartphone, you can take it a little further and use an app designed for scanning and storing receipts. Previously mentioned app Lemon (for iPhone and Android) is an excellent (and free) receipt scanner. It also handles plenty of other digital wallet-type things as well, like storing rewards cards, but the receipt functionality is enough to make it great. If you scan all your receipts right after purchase, you'll always have them in your pocket without the need to stuff them in your wallet.

iOS/Android: Keeping track of receipts can be a pain, but Lemon simplifies the process by allowing…
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Manually "Tag" Each Receipt for Easy Identification

When you're looking through receipts to find the right one it can be a little difficult because they all look the same. The easiest way to identify them quickly is to "tag" them, just like you would a video or blog post online. On the back of the receipt, take a pen and write where you bought the item and what the item is. For example, "Apple, Overpriced HDMI Cable" is sufficient. If there are a lot of items on the receipt you can just tag more generally (e.g. "Niketown, Running Gear"). It's an extra step, but it only requires a pen and a few seconds to potentially save you a lot of time when you need to find the receipt you're looking for.